Chengdu Bo’ya City Plaza designed by Aedas, is set at the heart of Tianfu New District in Chengdu. Boasting distinctive elevations, it is considered a landmark of Chengdu "Xinchuan Hi-Tech Innovation Park" jointly founded by China and Singapore. The project functions as an urban hub that connects main roads and transit systems within the city, establishing itself as a gateway to the overall community. Right from the beginning of design stage, Aedas Directors Chris Chen and Leon Liang have been determined to instill local features to this project with international visions.
In line with the concept of “porosity”, “connectivity” and “integration”, which Aedas has put into practice in its devotions to urban city development throughout the years, Chris and Leon have created a design that ensures efficiency, convenience, and living quality for the community.
Porosity, connectivity and integration has been interpreted through a myriad of architectures in high-density cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore. City dwellers are invited to enjoy work-live-recreate dynamics, as social economy evolves. In this project, Aedas has shaped a porous community, by maximizing use of space on ground floors, to allow welcoming entries along the main roads in the area. Designers create public decks extended from the interior spaces, to connect the project to multiple transportation hubs, and to encourage connections for people and the city. To prioritize experience of diverse visitors, multi-level communal spaces seamlessly link retail and offices functions housed on different floors.
“The architecture shall integrate, influence and improve its surrounding environment, and the way the city and community interact.”, Chris explained. The project comprises four office towers, a retail center and a three-storey commercial podium. Two towers are placed on the south of the plot, while the other two on the east. Designers flexibly adjust tower orientations and sensibly reduce height of a certain floors, to ensure optimal views and maximise distance between towers.
On the ground level, the project provides multiple entries along the main roads, and the entrance of inner streets easily leads to a public square. Visitors are thus encouraged to chill and relax in the abundant green spaces. Tower volumes are carefully sculpted, to allow inner streets to stretch at a human scale. Multiple internal parks are enclosed to meld with the urban landscape north of the plot.
“We should not only integrate global visions, but also local characteristics for our design”, according to Leon. Layout of the towers and podium space was inspired by the unique landscape in Sichuan province, while varying layers of floors simulate the undulating Min Mountains well-known in the region. Podium and public space echo with the multi-colored ponds in different sizes and shapes at Huanglong, a famous scenery north-west of the Province. The sky bridge linking different towers takes cue from the ancient Shu Road around deep valleys and steep mountains, while the public landscape to the north is reminiscent of the watercourse in Dujiangyan city. The overall design converts natural sceneries in Sichuan into an immersive spatial experience, which is rooted from local landscape, history and culture.
The towers are closely connected by multi-level sky gardens which combines greening, empowering a fully accessible experience, and forming social spaces for visitors and tenants alike. Abiding local regulations, designers introduce recessed terraces to reiterate a coherent architectural statement.
The sky gardens link up balconies at different towers, an idyllic interpretation of “Mountains in the Clouds”. Layers of vertical greening at balconies of the office tower foster a sense of affinity between the architecture and the occupants. With the indenting façades casting shadows constantly changing with the sunlight, Chengdu PKU Resources Hi-Tech Innovation Park will be an impressive addition to the city’s skyline.